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    SC again looks for ways to ease crowd

    Synopsis

    ​​A bench led by CJI S.A. Bobde has sought suggestions from the bar on ways to ease the overcrowding and congestion in court rooms, which make it difficult for men and women alike to enter the rooms when their cases are called out. Dave said that status quo on the issue was untenable.

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    New Delhi: The Supreme Court cannot shift out of its iconic building on Bhagwan Das Road and is back to exploring new ways to ease crowd congestion in its beautifully ornate but small court-rooms, just a year after it got a grand annexe building at the Appu Ghar site to house its administrative offices and lawyers’ chambers.

    The annexe, which cost over Rs 800 crore, was inaugurated with much fanfare last year. Though it houses many of the administrative offices of the court, it has not solved the problem of overcrowding in the court rooms. Attorney General KK Venugopal had suggested that the court must shift out from the existing structure to a new building.

    Activist lawyer Indira Jaising backs that view. However, Supreme Court Bar Association President Dushyant Dave has sharply opposed any such suggestion. “This is an iconic building. Traditions must be respected,” he said.

    Instead, he has suggested that the bench instead consider building a new back-to-back block like the Bangalore High Court had done to solve the problem. The existing court rooms can then be extended sideways to make way for bigger court rooms, he said.

    A bench led by CJI S.A. Bobde has sought suggestions from the bar on ways to ease the overcrowding and congestion in court rooms, which make it difficult for men and women alike to enter the rooms when their cases are called out.

    Dave’s suggestion may go down well with the CJI who has stated in open court the problems that face the court administration. The heritage rules make it impossible for the court to even touch the façade of the building or change the outer structure. The only way would be to combine the existing court rooms to make bigger ones, the CJI said in open court on Friday. Dave suggested more interactions between the bar and the bench over the issue.

    He said that status quo on the issue was untenable. Dave said that the bar association had earlier passed resolutions urging all lawyers not to take too many juniors into the court rooms, ensure that their clerks do not enter court rooms during judicial hours etc.


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